Lucky Lucy the Unexpected Landlady
by Trifan
Summary: Tartaros did more damage than anyone thought and Lucy learns the hard way that she causes just as much chaos as her friends even if it takes awhile to build up momentum.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfic ever after years and years of lurking and admiring. Please be kind. I am open to constructive criticism and writing advice.**

 **Special thanks to quiet-a-riot for all the encouragement and advice they've given me. And for coming up with the title.**

 **Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

It starts like this; Lucy wants to help. There isn't much else to be done really. Not unless she feels like wallowing in her current feelings, and as strong and numerous as they are she might never stop if she starts.

So she wants to help.

Needs to help.

And the town of Magnolia desperately needs any help it can get after Tartaros. Lucy tries to ignore the stab of guilt and sadness following that thought as she joins the work teams.

* * *

Magnolia is a wreck, no place more so than the guildhall (former guildhall, she can't stop herself from thinking) which remains in ruins even as the rest of the town begins to repair itself. Buildings are wrecked, streets broken, lives lost, and shock still strong a week after destruction rained from the sky and the magic guild known as Fairy Tail had disbanded for good. Spirits are low and repairs laborious. Several of Fairy Tail's (former) members have already left to start whatever new lives they can. The remainder of Lucy's (former) guildmates are gathered up by Erza and assigned to work teams to help with repairs.

The work is hard, but for once Lucy isn't going to complain (much) about dirt or sweat or splinters or exhaustion. She values the chance to be helpful, to make up for failing to protect everyone, to make up for being weak.

She often feels weak these days.

Mostly, she's glad for the distraction from her grief. She can tell most of her (former) guildmates feel the same. And so they work, for days and eventually weeks, until the town looks like a town again instead of a warzone, and they can all move on with their lives without it feeling like abandonment.

Life takes a pattern. Get up, clear rubble, lunch at the makeshift bar and rest station Mira had set up, construction work, dinner, training outside of town until Loke puts his foot down and guides her to bed, sleep the sleep of someone using exhaustion to escape nightmares, repeat.

Time passes in an exhausted daze as Lucy lifts and carries and hammers and lays bricks and stones and mortar. Sometimes she finds herself thinking she could build a whole new house with all the new skills she's learning doing repairs. Other times she occupies her wandering mind with picturing said house (and how her nakama wouldn't be there to invade it).

Occasionally, Mira slips her a mission from the makeshift jobs board someone had put together and she'd get to leave town for a day or two for a different kind of work, free from the oppressive atmosphere. More and more of her (former) comrades leave for good after these missions. No one holds it against them.

And so life goes on.

* * *

Three weeks after Tartaros, most of the (former) guild is gone. Mira had presented Lucy with whatever jobs of her level remained before leaving with her siblings. Lucy hadn't had a chance to ask where to. Erza was long gone into the night, and Gray had been among the first to leave. Wendy and Carla had left a week ago with the party from Lamia Scale who had come to help with the cleanup. Levy, Gajeel, and Panther Lily left not long after. Cana had gone… somewhere. Lucy couldn't remember her actually leaving, just that she hadn't seen her at (no longer) Mira's rest station for awhile.

And then it's just Lucy.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you once again to quiet-a-riot for all your help and encouragement. And MorriganFae for explaining how to post a new chapter.**

 **Warning: Very mild swearing.**

* * *

Things took shape like this; Lucy noticed a pattern. Eventually.

* * *

Lucy was so tired.

From the final stages of repair work. From the ever increasing number of jobs she was taking to fill her days. From rigorous training with her (remaining) spirits. And from the lingering feelings of loss and loneliness.

Even thinking about what made her tired was making her tired.

After the initial shock of the guild disbanding had worn off, Lucy had called out Scorpio as a means to check on Aquarius; he'd answered positively (in a sense, but pissed off at Lucy and threatening her bodily harm was good and healthy by Aquarius standards as far as Lucy was concerned) and gone back to the spirit realm quickly. The confirmation that her oldest friend was none the worse for the broken contract relieved Lucy to the point of tears. It soothed a part of her to know Aquarius was fine and ornery as ever, even if she wasn't with Lucy anymore.

Still fighting tears of relief and nostalgia she'd then summoned Capricorn and requested they resume training. She would never again allow herself to be so complacent. She was ready to be stronger than she was. Ready to step up and not need rescuing anymore.

No one should sacrifice themselves for her ever again.

And she was going to start by asking what that power was that the Stellar Spirit King had given her during his battle.

Capricorn had listened to her questions and her reasons and proceeded to explain about star dresses, and that Lucy now had the blessing of the Stellar Spirit King to have the power of the stars themselves.

From then on every day, after work, they would focus on first regaining, and then training with, the Aquarius star dress.

As the days went by, Lucy found she disliked having much time to think. She took to spending any free time training (like Na- no). She often wore the Aquarius dress while working to get used to the feeling of another magic layered on top of her own. Her fellow workers didn't comment. For several, the sight of her swimsuit clad body doing heavy labor was the highlight of their grueling day. It said a lot that Lucy barely noticed or cared.

Many times she had gone just outside the town as soon as the work teams trudged home for the day and trained until Loke had needed to carry her home. It was at this point that the concern of her spirits had turned into real worry that she was overdoing it. But she also seemed grimly satisfied and almost at peace at such times. Loke had seen enough in his existence to recognize that, for the moment, she needed the driving pace.

Several days after regaining the Aquarius form, standing together in their preferred training ground, she had asked Loke to lend her his power.

"I love the form and magic Aquarius left for me, but I need to be stronger. Better. I can't be complacent like I was before, Loke. I can't just settle for this one star dress when I can earn many. Please, lend me your power and teach me to wield it properly."

Lucy stood strong and certain before him as she made her request, coated in a layer of sweat from her workout and glowing in the light of the setting sun.

He hadn't even considered saying no; had in fact been working up to offering his power himself (he simply hadn't worked out the proper lines to use in his offer) and jumped at training without a second thought (he then spent a significant amount of time bragging to his fellow spirits).

And she had excelled, gaining full access to the Leo star dress and Regulus magic as she had the Aquarius form a mere ten days before. She had even already begun looking into the Capricorn star dress (Capricorn didn't brag outright, but he did have a hint of smugness about him for a few days).

But the sadness and self-doubt lingered. Lucy remained unhappy even when celebrating success. She held doubts about her ability to be a good master (the day Lucy had admitted that one to Loke he'd arranged a multi spirit intervention; happily, that seemed to have stuck), a good fighter, or a good mage.

Loke, and all of her other spirits, found it very worrying. Hence why he persisted in talking her through her feelings and adding reassurances like he was now.

No matter how tired she was.

She had really hoped her most negative emotions would start to become more bearable by now, but no, the sense of grief and loss and helplessness remained as sharp as ever when she meandered through newly repaired streets of Magnolia.

Or even when she sat in her own home having tea with a dear friend, as she was now.

* * *

"Loke, tell me. Will it ever get better? Can I get better? Is this my punishment for needing to resort to what I did?" Lucy puts her face in her hands "I'm trying so hard to make up for my weakness, and to _fix_ it! But is this all there is anymore? All I can be without Na-" she cut herself off, unable to stand the reminder.

Loke looked at his master sadly from across the table and shifted, thinking of how to lighten the mood. He considers flirting but immediately discards the thought. She wouldn't appreciate it at this moment, or even be riled up.

He opted instead for gentle sincerity.

"Princess, I promise you this isn't punishment. These feelings are perfectly normal considering everything you went through and I promise it _will get better_ someday. You are strong, and one day you will overcome this loss. And if you don't-" Loke put on a smile and sat a little straighter "Aquarius would have it be known that she will send the mother of all waves at you when you see each other again, for failing to shape up."

Lucy allowed herself a small smile at the mental image as gloom hovered. She missed Aquarius. She missed everyone. She even missed the spirits she still had with her when they left after missions or training. It was part of why she did so much of both these days.

She shifted in her chair and distractedly sipped her tea as she kept her attention on the celestial spirit sitting across her kitchen table.

"And Princess? You aren't weak. I understand you feel that way but try to trust me when I say you are one of the strongest masters I've had. And all of us who contract with you have been impressed with progress you've made in your training." And worried she would hurt herself or burn out, but none of them quite knew how to broach the subject, or even if they should considering the circumstances.

His smile faded momentarily before coming back with more warmth.

"In addition, despite the circumstances we've also enjoyed the extra time we've gotten to spend with you in recent days."

Lucy finally smiled for real at this and Loke congratulated himself for it.

It was the truth. He honestly hadn't noticed how much of the fighting that brat Natsu did until he wasn't. Or how relatively few chances there were to summon during smaller battles when he was. Loke wasn't about to elaborate on this particular silver lining however. He saw what it did to her.

Team Natsu remained one of her sorest spots. One she could barely bring herself to mention aloud and sent her into the worst brooding. He could always tell when Natsu (and Happy too he supposed) were on her mind from the single minded intensity she focused on whatever task she found to distract herself with. And she got that focus far more often than he liked.

Loke sipped his tea and contemplated their missing companions as he waited for his master to respond.

Lucy considered Loke's words and tried to cling to the remaining cheer brought by the conversation as it slipped away. The sun was shining, a cool morning breeze flowed through her window, one of her dearest friends was here and even being serious with her for once, and still the negativity clung to her mind like dark cobwebs.

"Let's go on a mission today. I know we usually join the last repair crews but I think I'm ready to try a Regulus attack on a live opponent." And she always felt better when she left town. That fact tugged at her somehow and she absently made a note as she contemplated her job options.

* * *

It came to Lucy later that it wasn't just missions and wasn't just her. She wasn't the first to note that leaving town past a certain point cheered one up immensely, but she was the first to fully take notice of how her own mood and that of the town itself consistently varied even street to street.

"Is it just me or does this block seem… happier, to you."

"Every block we walk together is happier than the last Princess."

Lucy glared at her friend.

"I'm serious Loke. We walk this route every day, and every time we pass from over there to here it's like the activity doubles. Even I think I feel a bit better whenever we come this way."

"For real? Why is this the first you've mentioned it?"

If _anything at all_ made her feel better Loke wanted to know about it asap.

"I thought it was wishful thinking, but that talk we had the other day made me think about how much better I feel anywhere but here and now I can't stop gauging my feelings whenever I go anywhere." Not an easy thing to do under the circumstances but in this case her brain's habit of latching onto small details served her well.

Ignoring Loke's unreadable look she started to think out loud as they continued walking.

"I think I'll experiment. Ask around to see if anyone else notices, maybe see how many spirits I can summon at once at the training ground and compare it to summoning by my apartment. If I'm right and some areas are different than others then the effect should be measurable and there does seem to be an element of energy level to it…" Lucy trails off as she considers the possibilities.

She hoped this wasn't all in her head.

"Whatever you say Princess. I'm happy to spend an experimental date with you touring the town anytime. In fact, one of my favorite café's is open again, why don't we-"

Lucy kicked him in the shin without looking.

* * *

Lucy decided to start with the head foreman of the crew she worked with. He was a solid man, and not too prone to trusting mages, but he'd been okay with her once he'd established that she wasn't strong or explosive enough to bring an already damaged building down on their heads by mistake.

(The story went that as a younger man he'd hired a mage from Fairy Tail to stand guard on a project outside of Magnolia. The day it was finished and everyone was supposed to go home the mage had walked right through the newly reconstructed guard tower without even noticing. It had then transpired that said mage was what took the original tower down to begin with. All of the workers from out of town laughed at the story; Lucy and those native to Magnolia had unquestioningly accepted it as fact).

He was known to all as Boss, and was one of the most trustworthy and experienced builders in town. He also happened to be in charge of the last area undergoing repairs. If anyone would notice a concrete difference in how he felt at work vs anywhere else it would be Boss.

Lucy wasted no time when she arrived at the work site before approaching Boss and asking the questions she had prepared the previous day.

"Good morning! How are you? How is everyone? Have you lost anymore laborers since yesterday? On average how many new people do you lose and hire in a week? Is that different than usual? Do you feel better when you leave the site? Even compared with other sites? Have you at all noticed a tendency to feel better or worse in general depending on which street you happen to be on?"

There were a lot of questions.

Boss gave her a tired and somewhat bewildered look, but answered to the best of his ability.

Lucy left the work site at the end of the day having questioned everyone in the same manner as they worked together. It had taken some coaxing. Everyone was tired and few felt like socializing on the job. Some workers were quite annoyed by her questions, but she'd gotten answers from most.

She knew she was onto something.

Shaking her head and planning her next steps, Lucy reached for Loke's key even as she made for home. She wanted to report her findings to someone.

* * *

Lucy continued her experiment.

It took a few days of experimentally walking around town and interviewing people (who she was sure must have thought she was crazy for going around accosting strangers on the street to ask them about their feelings) but she finally marked a specific pattern.

The closer one got to the scenes of the greatest destruction (thank gods there weren't many of those), the worse the feelings of general negativity got. Construction crews and businesses worked slower and experienced far greater turnover in these areas. Lucy had personally experienced that even, being one of the only original crewmembers left besides Boss to still be working these repair jobs. (It was why they started paying her).

The streets nearby the final repair site, located in the area surrounding the (former) guildhall, were the worst. The whole area was under populated even during the height of traffic. The few people there were unhappy no matter what they were doing, sad and lethargic and occasionally angry. Work on the area was still incomplete after weeks of effort. Most citizens actively avoided the place (though admittedly that could also be because it was an eyesore).

Perhaps the biggest clue that something was wrong, Lucy noticed that her own magic was weaker inside Magnolia. She couldn't, in fact, summon as many of her friends in her apartment as she could at her preferred training area, and she couldn't sustain her summons for as long either.

Lucy had no idea what to make of it. So she did what she always used to before she had friends to ask about things. She called Crux. And then, because these weren't the days before she had friends anymore, she also called Loke and Capricorn. (She desperately missed Levy).

* * *

With her spirits arrayed around her living room watching her Lucy began to speak.

"Alright everyone, first some background. As you know this town was attacked almost five weeks ago-" had it really only been that long? "by the demonic guild known as Tartaros. Since then everyone but me moved on and repair work has almost been completed. It struck me not long ago that the rest of Magnolia is feeling as awful as I have. Even more recently I decided I felt better in some parts of town than others. I decided to test this as well as I could."

She took a deep breath and paced in the limited space. Loke looked mildly amused, but he was genuinely interested in her results. Capricorn was as serious as ever as he waited for his master to finish. Crux floated in place and looked dead to the world.

"I've been working on my experiment and these are my results. All of Magnolia is depressed. All of Magnolia is perpetually tired. I can't summon more than two gold key spirits at a time in this apartment without passing out." Loke and Capricorn both sat up in alarm; Lucy waved them back down.

"I can manage four while training. I'm the only mage left in Magnolia, which kind of explains a few things. Boss can't hold onto even experienced labor for more than three days before they quit, which is very unusual. They seem to just lose heart he says."

She took another deep breath and continued with a slight wobble in her voice. "Suicides are up. Everything just gets worse the closer you get to the guildhall. It's like the whole town feels exactly as bad as I do. This can't be normal! Even after something like _that!_ "

Lucy paused in her tirade and breathed. Her audience looked worried and thoughtful. Except for Crux, who appeared to be sleeping.

Or he did before he suddenly yelled into the pause, startling everyone.

And then he started to talk.

Somewhat surprisingly Crux had an answer quickly. For him anyway. Lucy was relieved by that; she hated to think she actually was going insane from the emotional turmoil.

The answer was that Magnolia, and much of the immediate countryside, had been corrupted by demonic curse energy.

The demons and weapons of Tartaros had done even worse than they knew.

When they attacked the town, their demonic curse magic left residue. A lingering curse which fed on the fear and despair in the air and sank into the ground and air of the town like a stain, leaving an ever present, invisible miasma of misery.

It was a bit like what happened at Galuna, when the magic pollution caused by the moon drip ceremony caused mass confusion in the native people. Only not like that at all because this was much more dangerous and wouldn't be nearly so easy to get rid of.

"Well that's just fucking perfect. Princess, I really think you should consider leaving Magnolia."

Loke was not happy to hear about the magical pollution exacerbating his master's misery. He wanted her away from it.

He then noticed the dark look on his master's face. There was a level of stubborn determination there that he hadn't seen in too long, but mixed with a look of guilt he's come to recognize and hate in recent weeks.

Loke braced himself for whatever came next. The last time she had worn a look like that was right before starting her weeks long stint in construction and stubbornly remaining in this miserable town filled with memories that made her sad long past the point where she should've left for her own mental health. And was now apparently cursed.

"How do I help?"

And Lucy would help.

In any way she could.

Because that was all she could do, and she needed to do something. She was so tired of feeling helpless. It's been five weeks now since Natsu and Happy wandered out of her life (she finally had to face that). Since Fairy Tail itself had left. She was long since the only (former) member still in Magnolia now that repairs were almost done and she still can't let go.

"Please tell me how I can help."

Loke sighed in fond resignation at the request, not at all surprised. He leaned back into the couch more comfortably and mentally prepared himself to support his Princess in any way necessary.

In the his chair Capricorn did much the same, quietly cataloging what he knew of curses and what they could do to defend against them.

He shifted in mild agitation.

It really wouldn't do to have his master keep being affected by this curse, no matter what else happened.

Lucy sat down impatiently by Loke as they waited for Crux to respond once again.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: As always, thank you quiet-a-riot.

* * *

Things continued like this: Crux taught Lucy purification magic.

It was a development that unnerved her somewhat. Even at his most helpful this particular spirit of hers was rarely so proactive about anything. He must've thought the situation truly concerning.

Lucy learned quickly in any case. Crux provided the initial lesson and Capricorn swiftly took over drilling in into her head.

Focus magic just so, with a twist of will to clean the spiritual filth before her.

Use Crux's key as a focus until the spell came easier.

The spell should manifest as glittering light, the brighter the better.

Their chosen practice ground was located just beyond the edge of town, where Magnolia gave way to the surrounding fields and forests. The curse was light but present, making it an ideal place to practice.

Lucy settled into a meditation pose as Capricorn reviewed the lesson once more.

"Remember Miss Lucy: positive feelings make this magic stronger. They don't necessarily need to be happy feelings- happy is hardly the only positive- but they need to have strength in them; they need to have force of will. Life and will are the greatest opposition to curses, the opposite of the intended result. Your determination to do anything at all, grim as it might be, is your strongest asset in the task before you. You must channel that determination, your will to live, your will to help, into the spell."

Lucy nodded along in acknowledgement and rose to her feet.

Her mind had cleared somewhat. She could better tell what the curse zone was doing to her, where she ended and the cloud of negativity began (even with less than a day of observation), and focusing on Capricorn's words gave her a further sense of clarity about what she needed to do.

She cast the spell.

It failed.

The first time. And the second. The third attempt yielded a single spark of gold which faded out before it touched the ground. She watched the spot her first spark had winked out, and kept at it.

You had to start somewhere.

* * *

It took two days to reach an acceptable level of proficiency.

Lucy drilled herself hard, casting the spell over and over. Until she produced many sparks. Until they were sustained enough to matter. Until the area was clear and they could be certain the spell was doing as intended.

Until Lucy was sure she could make a difference.

* * *

They made a plan.

Or rather, Loke approached Lucy after training was over and Capricorn had gone home and the two of them made a plan.

Okay, Loke made a plan as Lucy sat recovering in the grass.

It was a quite simple plan: Lucy would walk about Magnolia and cast purification until everything was better.

No one ever said Loke was good at making plans.

"Is- I mean, is that really it?" It was by far the simplest plan she had ever been part of, and that included all the times anyone (AKA Natsu) decided the 'plan' was plan T, or some variation of it, which always amounted to 'charge over and start punching/slicing/burning things'. At least combat involved some actual skill and ability. All she was doing was throwing glowing confetti around until people felt better.

"Things needn't be overly complicated Princess! With no opponents and no real obstacles besides the curse itself it's not as if we need to plan maneuvers or be especially cautious." Loke replied cheerfully.

He turned more serious.

"That said, there is one thing to worry about. You." Loke made sure his master met his eyes.

"Don't overdo it. We- all of us spirits who contract with you and a certain mermaid- understand how important this task is to you, but we worry. We worried when you spent everyday working construction and training to the exclusion of everything else and we worry now that this will end up a continuation of that. We – I – understood that you needed to work out some things and the extreme pace helped you, but we are past that now. We won't sit back and allow you to work yourself to death just because you think – wrongly, I might add – that a lack of outright danger in any way makes your contributions worth less than those of our absent comrades."

Loke took a calming breath after his speech. He'd said more than intended, but he stood by every word.

He held Lucy's surprised gaze for several moments, attempting to drive home how serious he was about this. She finally looked away first in acceptance and slight shame and guilt.

"…I've really caused you a lot stress recently, haven't I? I'm sorry." She apologized with her head held low in consternation.

Lucy had been at least somewhat aware of the fact that her spirits were worried (the constant pep talks from Loke had been a tip off), but she'd ignored their concerns in her need to bury herself in work and wallow in self-pity.

Well no more of that.

She heaved a bracing sigh and stood to her full height, back straight and posture perfect as the day her old etiquette tutor had declared her 'good enough'. She looked Loke in the eye and responded to him earnestly.

"I will **try** to be better. I can't promise it will be immediate, or consistent; I need to give everything I have to the purification, at least at first. But I promise not to disregard any of your feelings again. I desperately want to give my all to the task ahead, but if you truly think I'm overdoing it then say the word and I will stop and rest."

Loke watched her in relief and pride. None of them would tell her but they all loved it when she was like this. Like a powerful and dignified princess who gave the full weight of consideration to those she held in her care, and who would face down the King of Celestial Spirits himself to see her responsibilities through. It wasn't something they got to see often.

"I accept your apology and promise." Even if it wasn't strictly necessary. It wasn't as if they had been up front about their worries. The lion spirit shuddered. If Aquarius had been displeased to hear how unhappy Lucy was after losing their contract, her reaction to her fellow spirits inaction would best be described as 'enraged'. The dry cleaning bills had been murder. And speaking of jewel…

Loke continued."I will give you the first week of this project to run wild and do as you please. After that I'll start to rein you in if you still have trouble doing it for yourself."

Lucy nodded in acquiescence.

"Plus, remember you still have all those jobs to do. Save some energy for those."

"Jobs? I don't have time for jobs at the moment…"

"Have you already forgotten that you're the last mage in the Magnolia area? Everyone else with any magic sensitivity got out right along with everyone from the guild."

"Ehhhh?!"

She hadn't exactly forgotten, but she also hadn't given it much thought. Was that why the supposedly temporary jobs board outside Fairy Hills never seemed to run dry? It certainly explained why she could always find jobs, among other things. Oh gods. Did that mean she was responsible for all mage work in the area?!

Loke interjected before she could work herself up too much.

"Worry not Princess, it's not so bad as it sounds. Incidentally, I can handle most of the jobs in town. But. Only the jobs in town. I can't leave Magnolia so long as you remain-" more like he wouldn't leave "so let's be sure to take some breaks and take care of other business as needed, hmmm?" he ended his statement with an amused hum.

Lucy once again nodded in agreement, dazed from the revelation and still wearing an expression of mild terror.

* * *

Lucy was up bright and early the next morning despite the insidious tiredness that still plagued her. Capricorn walked along with her as they searched for a place to begin.

"Start light. I'm certain your proficiency with purification will grow with practice so there is no good reason to handle the worst of it right away. Take time and build up to it." Lucy nodded her understanding.

"In that case, maybe the gate closest to where we trained? The curse was pretty light there."

They wound their way through town toward the chosen starting point together, Capricorn determined to be present the first day. As her primary trainer he felt a responsibility to stay and observe at the beginning. Lucy agreed even if it meant her magic drained away faster.

Capricorn considered what else was important as they paused to let a group of civilians trudge by. He decided to finish the lecture from the other day.

"Curses, at their core, are about…mmm. This is a bit hard to explain. Curses are about stagnation, but primarily for the purpose of domination or destruction. By killing, or leaving paralyzed with fear, or rage, or by leaving one unable to recover from a wound, physical or mental, that they might have otherwise overcome. The ultimate purpose of a curse is to leave the target hurt and unable to save themselves, helpless and ineffective. Zeref's demons in particular, were made to cause ruin wherever they emerge, to assert their power, their dominance, over the world through death and destruction. Things which all feed into and are fed by their curse magic."

He'd gone on a bit of a tangent there but Ms. Lucy appeared to be listening intently and with renewed rage at the demons that had destroyed so much.

The situation was more complicated than it first appeared. Capricorn honestly couldn't say if a cursed zone left by fallout from a much larger use of curse magic would act the same as a deliberate curse. It wasn't something that anyone besides black magic or curse magic users knew much about. On the other hand…what were the odds that Tartaros hadn't known this would happen? Or even that they hadn't deliberately engineered their weapons to spread subtler, longer lasting curses, like poisoned shrapnel from the initial blast?

He supposed it didn't really matter at this point.

* * *

They made it to the gate. Capricorn decided to give one last bit of encouragement before letting Lucy have space to concentrate.

"Curses have a hard time sticking to something as full of life as a town, especially one as vibrant as this one. I do believe that will help you. The more of Magnolia you clear, the less of a hold the remainder should have. Now, go forth, and remember that every step you take, every emotion you can put behind the purification spell, every bit of will to improve your situation that you can bring to bear, will be a direct defiance against the curse and those who laid it. Your determination to do anything at all is your greatest asset."

Having made his point, Capricorn retreated a few steps and waited for his master to begin.

The plan, if it could be called that, was for Lucy to start out purifying where the curse was weakest and work inwards toward more serious places as her strength, stamina, and skill with purification magic grew. Capricorn might have made a few improvements to the original.

It was all rather slow and anticlimactic compared to what she was used to. She thought idly that if her (former) nakama were here they would've cleared the place of any curse the day they discovered it. Erza, at least, wouldn't have settled for less.

Lucy was…not _pleased,_ exactly, but something slightly similar and bittersweet, to note her reaction to the thought of her friends. Her heart still hurt to remember but she wasn't paralyzed like she was even a week ago. Her work on the curse energy around herself was already helping so much, and the thought reinforced her desire to help the rest of Magnolia.

Holding on to that feeling she cast her spell, hands held before her. They shook slightly with anticipation as they filled with brilliant golden sparks; tiny, glittering motes of starlight she threw about herself to land on streets and buildings and lethargic pedestrians to disperse the curse energy clinging to everything like grime. There were several exclamations (mostly of wonder, but also a few of annoyance) as the sparkles hit their marks and stuck, but Lucy was already focused elsewhere.

She took a step.

Then another.

She would stop every few steps to look around and make sure everything in reach had some of her glitter, gradually fading as it was used up.

Lucy would crisscross Magnolia doing this exact thing until the curse zone was eradicated. At her current level it would take months, but she was prepared to do whatever was necessary.

"Miss Lucy." Capricorn caught her attention from behind as she dodged a slow moving pack of civilians and threw magic glitter at them.

"Hmm?" Lucy did her best to split her concentration between her work and her friend. She spotted an alleyway that looked like it needed extra effort and would spare her the need to walk in addition to talk and cast.

"As you know, I have been making my own inquiries about curses and how to break them, or at least resist some of the effects. Among other things."

(Quite successfully at that if the frequency and detail of his lectures was anything to go by.)

"The current plan is to purify in this manner all over until the town is cleared, correct? That is fine for the moment due to your level of proficiency, but once you become a bit more sure of yourself with this magic I believe there is a more efficient way."

Lucy perked up a bit at that and made a 'go on' gesture as she wandered further into the alley, purification spell lighting the way.

"I believe you should eventually try this in the Aquarius star dress. It seems water, and water magic, are especially suited to this kind of work. It can amplify and help spread purification magic, making your task somewhat easier. In addition, star dresses, especially that one, are excellent for boosting your magic, and would likely help you even if you did not learn to combine the two magics."

Capricorn was momentarily silent as he thought.

"Of course, I cannot be fully certain of my last point until I've had a chance to observe the level of drain you experience when in a star dress for extended periods." He admitted.

Now finished with both the alley and the conversation, woman and stellar spirit turned back toward the original road as they each digested their information.

Truly, water magic was good for all kinds of things. It had a habit of picking up certain other magic types and spreading them around, pushing them farther than could be managed alone. That quality made it ideal for purification. And curses. Curse infected water could spread a curse like nothing else, just like a disease. It was why Capricorn was desperately grateful none of the bad cursed places of Magnolia overlapped the canal.

Just before reaching the street Lucy turned to Capricorn with her answer.

"Thank you for telling me. In a few days, when I feel like I've made some headway, we can take a break and practice that."

And truthfully, she missed the Aquarius star dress.

With a deep breath she cast the spell again. Increasingly familiar gold sparks fell from her hands. A...child (boy? girl? Whatever, they were still cute as a button.), still possessing energy despite the curse zone, ran up and stared with wonder, giggling as Lucy dropped the whole handful on their head.

She smiled and kept on. She had a few good hours left in her. The curse dragged, so very noticeable now she knew what to look for she wondered how she had ever missed it.

It was fighting her purification.

Not hard, not here in the mildest part, but the curse was resisting her effort.

Lucy contemplated the monumental (to her) task ahead. Knowing she was going to be working herself ragged despite her words to Loke and begrudgingly grateful that she had a week to do so before her promise kicked in.

Loke…

He wasn't wrong about her considering her own efforts worth less than those of their friends, but he wasn't completely right about that being her motivation to push herself. The truth was she felt a responsibility. She _could_ help, so she _would_ help.

Even if the curse grated against mind and magic like dirty sandpaper.

Even if the tiredness still dragged at her and everyone else in Magnolia like a weight on their souls.

Even if the sheer negativity made everyone sad and selfish and irritable and blind to each other's pain.

Even if no one cared at all.

Lucy would keep on, feeling the push and pull of curse and purification and the drain of her summoned friend watching out for her as she set out on this new type of adventure.

Oddly enough, she felt more alive than she had in a very long time.

* * *

The days took on a pattern after that, at least at first. Lucy purchased a map of Magnolia and used it to break up the town into manageable areas for cleaning each day. She formed grids and made signs to stay organized and prevent repeats. With the cursed zone so prominent it wasn't always easy to tell she had been over a given spot until enough surrounding blocks had been cleared for it to be noticeable, though she did sometimes need to go back over a few. Some places could even get re-cursed, albeit not as badly, but thankfully not many. She had signs for that too. And color coding.

All for the sake of facilitating her real work.

Every waking minute she spent away from her maps was spent determinedly casting purification.

She wandered about whichever section of town had been selected that day, flinging purifying sparks that clung and faded out as they burned away magical filth. She cast with ever increasing speed and confidence, calling up feelings and focus on a whim. She cast until she barely needed the spell to shape her magic the way she needed to.

She walked through streets and alleys and parks, cleaning away cursed residue with every step, until she had no more magic to use. Until she had nothing left for work, or training, or anything that wasn't her self-appointed mission. She cast until the streets regained some of their old charm and the people just a bit of their old spirit. Helping her beloved town.

Every day.

Her spirits were a little concerned, but she looked almost satisfied for the first time since the Grand Magic Games, and they had the promise given to Leo on all their behalf, in case they felt truly worried.

Loke checked the time; the first week was almost up.

* * *

As it turned out it ended up not quite being a whole week before, as promised, Loke asked Lucy to take a break.

"Oh Prinnnnceeeesss!" He strode over to where she was finishing up with a lamp post.

"Guess what time it is!"

"Huh? Umm… Lunch time?"

Loke blinked and then pouted. "You actually got it right. Anyways! I'm letting it be known that I'm concerned by the amount of time you spend working and it's time to take a break. Let's go." He started leading Lucy down a side street and she followed, resigned.

She couldn't even work on the way; it had already been cleared.

"Also, call Capricorn once you've recovered some magic, ok? He says it's time to start combining purification magic with star dresses.

Lucy perked up at that. About time. Her mastery of purification magic increased every day. The original gold sparks, the color of her magic, had been joined by intense silver as of yesterday. With the weakening of the curse and the tangible effect of her work she was feeling quite optimistic about things even if she still had trouble seeing beyond her immediate task. She was ready to learn something new.

Capricorn was with them by the time they reached the café.

Mage and spirits sat down and ordered coffee from the unusually enthusiastic waitress.

 _Maybe not that unusual._ Lucy decided as she eyed Loke. At least this one didn't seem jealous of Lucy's presence. Could, in fact, maintain the starry eyed look she gave the lion spirit as she took Lucy's lunch order.

Her attention was pulled back to her lunch companions.

"It has been a few days since you began. How have you been? And what kind of progress have you made"

"I'm great! The spell is brighter than ever and I now throw gold AND silver sparks." Lucy beamed with pride. "It's getting easier too. And I can go longer without needing a rest." They might not have been the biggest accomplishments, but they were hers.

"As for progress on the town, I've cleared several blocks around the gate where we started, one park with two more in progress, and I'm starting to focus on the places that were damaged and rebuilt"

"That is wonderful. You're making a lot of progress."

Lucy preened a little at the praise.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off from purification and train? I know you don't want to stop-" Lucy's mouth was already open to protest "but a day, or even a few days, will make little difference. Especially when you might be able to cut the time it takes to purify the whole town in half as a result."

That made her pause.

"Will using the Aquarius star dress really make that much of a difference?"

"Indeed. Every star dress boosts your magic to some degree, but especially that one. And I have already informed you of the potential benefits of the water magic it gives you access to. The Aquarius dress is quite suited to purification. I promise, this isn't a ploy to get you to rest, though you do need it," Capricorn teased gently. "No, we trust Loke to take care of that, as he is doing right now."

Lunch arrived at that moment, as if for emphasis, and Lucy conceded the point with a self-deprecating smile. She **had** promised.

"That reminds me…Miss Lucy, Virgo has requested that I pass along her request to be summoned."

Lucy blinked in confusion.

"She hasn't seen you since Tartaros and wishes to see you for herself." He clarified.

"Oh." Now she felt bad again. It seemed like she couldn't stop disregarding her friend's feelings no matter what she said.

She really was a bad master.

"Stop it."

She looked up, startled, and met the stern gazes of both companions.

"You have done nothing wrong. These are trying times. And remember, time passes differently in the celestial realm. Six-ish weeks here is but a blink for us. Virgo merely wants to see you. She saw you briefly when you were running your experiments and otherwise has only had reports from us to go on. She hasn't had a chance to see your improvement and she wishes to."

Capricorn sipped his coffee, allowing Loke to pick up the thread.

"I know all this purification magic on top of all this curse magic is making your emotions volatile-"

She…hadn't known that, actually.

"-but you shouldn't doubt yourself so much when it comes to us. We like seeing you. We like helping you. Everyone is clamoring to share their magic with you-"

Well. That was nice to hear.

"-although Scorpio is happy for the uninterrupted time with Aquarius. She's sulking even if she won't admit it."

Lucy's hand automatically went to the broken key hanging from her neck and Loke seemed to notice what he'd said. He disliked her being exposed to painful memories. He pushed on anyway.

"Anyway, the point is, Virgo would like to see you in person and we all thought this was a good time to do it. You are a good master and a good friend and I know I sound like a broken record and that a big chunk of this shit is from the curse and how stressed you must be, but it's important you know your value."

Loke stopped there and hid his mild discomfort at such a public display of sincerity behind his now lukewarm coffee. The waitress and the cook were both watching.

Lucy contemplated their words, finally picking up her sandwich and munching distractedly.

Then put it down half eaten and reached for Virgo's key. She was pleased with her stamina today. Even after a morning of purification and then summoning Capricorn she still had magic left.

Moments later the blank faced maid was taking a seat with them.

"Princess." Virgo nodded her thanks to Capricorn as she greeted their master.

"Virgo. I'm sorry I haven't summoned you more recently. I've been so busy but I should've made time to talk to everyone more.

"We would all appreciate it if you spoke to us more, but we understand. So long as you do better in the future all is well. I must say, I've been looking forward to seeing this purification spell the others speak of. Sparkles suit Princess very well."

Lucy couldn't tell due to her typical blank expression but it seemed as if Virgo was…anticipating?

Well, whatever. Lucy was happy to show off her newest magic, and if it made Virgo happy, all the better.

She stood and absently laid a handful of jewel notes on the table before heading back to where Loke had stopped her for lunch, Virgo in tow.

Behind them, forgotten, Loke and Capricorn shared a look of amused relief. Things were getting back to normal.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: It's coming along.

* * *

Purification happened like this: Aquarius's star dress was amazing.

"I apologize for distracting you Princess. Please punish me."

Lucy ignored the celestial maid trailing after her as she made her way to the training ground where she was late to meeting Capricorn.

The two of them had spent most of the last two hours wandering around a series of alleyways about three blocks from the café as Lucy showed off her purification magic. She'd gotten really good if she said so herself. It was always hard to tell with her blank expression, but Lucy hoped Virgo was impressed.

If nothing else, she felt the maid spirit's offer to bring her clothes more suited to the work she was doing indicated some interest. Although she wasn't quite sure what that meant or if she should be worried…

When Lucy had felt Capricorn return to the celestial realm she had abruptly remembered that she was supposed to be training with him, and had dashed for the training ground where they had worked on purification magic those first few days. There was still time and Lucy still had magic in her.

Virgo had followed.

"I haven't had a chance to see your star dresses yet Princess. I only have Loke's bragging to go on."

…Fair enough. More showing off then.

With a bit more of a flourish than was strictly necessary, Lucy donned the Aquarius star dress. She tried very hard not to be self-conscious as Virgo circled her, taking in every angle.

She then called forth Capricorn, ready to apologize for her lateness.

Loke came through on his own power.

"I'm so sorry for forgetting our training!" Lucy was contrite.

"It is fine. You were distracted. We are happy you are having fun and would never wish to prevent you from doing so." Capricorn reassured. "The important thing is, you are here now. I take it you are ready to begin?"

Lucy nodded vigorously.

And couldn't help but look at her spirits in confusion as they had the _strangest_ conversation. Beginning with Virgo.

"It figures. And it fits. Automatic?"

"Some leeway. Not sure how much input Aquarius had. Might explain her attitude recently." Loke responded.

"Some cosmetic. Ability seems more natural. We haven't had time to experiment." Capricorn added.

Virgo nodded thoughtfully.

Lucy perked up at the mention of Aquarius but remained lost otherwise. She could tell from the way they all avoided her gaze that she wasn't going to get an explanation so she turned to the goat spirit and somewhat petulantly asked to get on with it.

"Of course Miss Lucy. This shouldn't be too complicated. Simply gather some water, as you did when we trained with this power before, and then try to cast the purification simultaneously. Our goal is to meld the two together, and the nature of water means it should accept the purification fairly easily."

Lucy did as she was told, still amazed at how simple solutions were these days.

Air and earth went dry as local moisture was pulled into a sphere between her hands. She spent a moment admiring it, relishing in Aquarius's power in a way she hadn't been able to several weeks ago when the grief was still too fresh.

Her friends looked on, perhaps guessing the direction of her thoughts, but saying nothing as they waited.

Finally, Lucy shook herself free of the memory of the early days of star dress training and transferred the water ball to one hand as she focused on casting purification with the other. She immediately lost the water as her concentration split too far.

Wearing a mild blush at her failure she regathered the liquid from the ground and tried again. And failed again.

Either the water would fall, or the sparks would fail to appear. It took far longer than Lucy cared for before she managed to hold both spells at once, and it only happened at all after Capricorn had made her sit and meditate for half an hour.

"I should have had you begin with this. There are so many emotions tied to this star dress, I should have known you would need to clear some of them before attempting something so heavy in concentration." Capricorn had tried to assuage her annoyance as she finally caved in and did as he suggested.

She was still a bit frustrated when she rose to try again, but from that point on her efforts were more successful.

When she managed it at long last she proudly held up the ball of water in one hand and a handful of glitter in the other. With glee and a sense of the dramatic Lucy held both magics above her head, as if showing them off to a far larger audience, before ceremoniously smushing them together. The magic melded at once, the water filling with glitter that hung suspended in the liquid as Lucy moved it in a stream around herself like a giant watery serpent. After snaking the glittering water around herself one last time Lucy decided she was ready to try it out on some curse zone.

Loke had already picked a spot.

It did not take long to understand the benefits of water.

Lucy swirled it over the tainted ground and was swiftly rewarded with clean earth. And she still had a good amount of the spell suspended in water, ready to use again. Yes. This would be so much more efficient once she got the hang of controlling water and casting purification at the same time.

She smiled giddily at her spirits, emotional from success. This week had been the best in a long time. She learned a new spell and was able to use it to genuinely improve life for herself and others. She was gradually mastering star dresses. She was truly happy, even while wearing a magical reminder of a loss that had nearly broken her.

Even without the guild she was surrounded by love and support, and nothing could stop her now!

* * *

Lucy came home to an eviction notice.

 _"I forgot about rent!"_ She shrieked in horror.

When had it been due?! How far behind was she!? What was the current date even!? She hadn't been paying attention! Had her late hours and odd muttering over maps and grids pissed off her Landlady?! Or maybe the strange lights?! Or-!

As Lucy continued to have her meltdown, Loke, who had decided to walk her home like the gentleman he was (and make sure she didn't get sidetracked from a good night's sleep by trying out her new trick until she passed out from exhaustion), had his own reaction to this development.

 _Are you fucking kidding?_

At first he was as shocked as his master, but the feeling quickly turned to anger as he processed the situation.

Did this Landlady not notice what Lucy did all day? How hard she worked or how much she'd done already? Why she might lose track of time? Did she have no sense of mercy? That she wouldn't even take the time to post a warning on the door before moving to eviction, even if she couldn't quite catch Lucy in person…

Loke suddenly winced. _Oh, right._

With how well Princess had been recovering, he sometimes forgot the curse was still affecting everyone else. Mercy, or the good sense to hang on to a reliable tenant, might very well be beyond the old woman at the moment.

Either way, Loke was ready for Princess to be done with this place and this landlady.

"Princess, I know you love this apartment-," as did everyone else who'd ever spent time in it "but I think we should just move on this time, rather than try to reason with the landlady again. I have no idea if she knows what caused you to miss rent, and it's debatable if she would even care right now. I'm sure you can find another good place to stay, even if only temporarily, that will be less stressful." _And have fewer memories attached_ he didn't say.

It hadn't escaped the lion's notice that Lucy's attempts to run from her pain often overlapped with avoiding going home for extended periods.

"And!" He brightened while shaking depressing thoughts away, "We can go somewhere we can train more conveniently! You can work on your other star dresses, learn to combine the Leo dress with purification -yes, I want to try that at some point-, and we won't have to worry about noise complaints. It'll be great!" Loke was really warming up to the idea of his master moving the more he considered it. In fact… now that he thought about it, property values would be rock bottom right now, due to recent events. This would be a great time for Princess to buy herself a home and never need to pay rent again. He was certain her presence (and excellent taste) was key to the comfort level of he- the apartment. Any space she claimed for herself would more than likely become just as comfortable and welcoming.

She definitely had the money for it after their previous jobs binge.

"Of course the best part is we can now officially move in togethmph?!" Lucy automatically covered his mouth at that, as she finally snapped out of her horrified shock and began processing what the spirit had been saying to her.

He had a point.

As sad as it made her to let go, it was time to say goodbye to this apartment. The last remnant of her life before Tartaros.

 _Well, not quite the last thing._ She ran the hand with her guildmark gently over her keys.

Still reeling from the unpleasant surprise, but somewhat capable of functioning again, she summoned Taurus and Virgo to help her pack.

* * *

Lucy had an idea.

She was fairly certain it wasn't a good idea, but damnit! She needed a place to stay and no time to find someplace different. And it's not as if the owner would care anyway.

"Are you absolutely sure about this Princess? There are so many better options. This place is a wreck, AND a sty, AND it's not even in town-"

"YES Loke, I'm sure. And being outside of town is ideal for training, yeah? Especially once I have time to develop more star dresses. Isn't that one of the top reasons you gave me to move? The rest I can fix."

Lucy ignored Loke's grumbling and proceeded with moving her things into Natsu's house.

* * *

Lucy got on with life after that.

She smiled back at people and sometimes stopped to talk while on her purification rounds. She thought about writing. She started taking jobs again.

Lots of jobs.

All the jobs.

As promised Loke did his best, but there were still so many jobs. Thankfully few of them required her to leave Magnolia for more than a day.

Purification held priority.

And, gradually, the people of Magnolia were taking note of her activities.

There were the numerous pedestrians she had sprinkled with her magic as she passed by and couldn't resist the slow moving targets, slowly coming to notice they felt better after the encounter and wondering what had happened.

There were the laborers she herself had worked beside not long ago, unknowingly feeling the brunt of the curse as they marched into the most damaged parts of the town and worked long hours to fix them. They greeted her with confusion as she blazed through their worksites flinging glitter and bringing the first sense of happiness any of them had experienced in months. (Boss in particular got two whole handfuls of sparks thrown on him and was left watching in bemusement as gold and silver and rare, lovely white clung and glimmered across the expanse of his dusty clothing and weathered skin.)

There were children, still possessing energy despite the miasma, fixating on the bright starlights falling from her hands and mixed into long swathes of water floating behind her like scarves, reaching out to touch, and reacting with wonder as she let whole handfuls fall on them. They would follow her sometimes. Other times they would quickly run away, only to return with friends or family.

There were parents, initially annoyed at the detour but too tired to argue or too relieved at the smiles of their children to deny them when they wanted to introduce the celestial mage who had chosen to stay and fight with hands full of warm light and a smile. They looked on in wonder as she sent a cascade of star filled water down the streets or waves slicing along the canal, washing away magical filth until the very air was clean of a stench they hadn't even noticed until it was gone.

Many townspeople were grateful, for whatever it was she was doing that made their pain fade and lessen at long last. Others sneered and said it was the least she could do after the failure of mages to save so many. Loke made sure these people never went near his Princess with the enthusiastic help of the grateful. Lucy barely paid attention to either group in favor of pushing forward with her self-appointed mission.

Sometimes the townspeople would give her small gifts and snacks as she went about her business, whether it was purification, a job that couldn't wait anymore, or simply buying groceries. These always made her happy and became further fuel for her spell. (Happiness might not be the only positive emotion, but it was a very powerful and effective one for purification magic).

Most still didn't understand the exact nature of what she was doing, but they would still frequently stop in their tracks and watch the celestial mage work with ever larger amounts of floating, glittering water as she washed all of Magnolia clean. They never questioned the all too appropriate sparkly star and maid themed outfit she always started out in before magically switching to a bathing suit, nor did they think to wonder about the handsome playboy and pink haired maid that tended to watch her with pleased expressions during these transformation sequences. (There are some things one stops questioning after living in the same town as Erza for years). Whatever she was doing, they trusted it was helping. And frankly, they couldn't help but appreciate the show.

Lucy took in the gratitude like a breath of fresh air.

Nine weeks since the attack. Four since purification had begun. Capricorn had been right on the money about the efficiency of using Aquarius's star dress for the bulk of the labor. And the outfit Virgo gave her for when she worked on people (who she politely didn't soak unless they asked) actually boosted the spell a bit.

The town was finally starting to feel like before (with the exception of…you know). The curse zone was weakening by the day. Lucy had cleaned and purified and repaired everything she could, and she was sure it was paying off.

Perhaps most notably, the destruction had been fully repaired at last. The sole exception was the ruin of the guildhall, which for unknown legal and magical reasons could not be touched by town officials. It was still an eyesore, but a manageable one most could ignore as they got on with life.

The day came when Lucy surveyed her maps and figures and nodded decisively. Just one last thing to do.

* * *

That evening Lucy donned her special 'purification uniform' from Virgo. It was a dress in a style similar to Virgo's own maid uniform, but with far more ruffles and decoration. Colored a deep twilight blue with gold and silver sequins and matching shoes and stockings, it was what Virgo (with complete agreement from Loke) called a perfect outfit for her occupation. Lucy thought it was a bit over the top, but celestial clothes were always so pretty and comfy she couldn't bring herself to argue.

Now she wore it easily, appreciating looking fine for her grand finale.

It was time to purify the guildhall.

She arrived at the ruin of her former home and place of employment as the evening set in. The final rays of the sun lit up her sequins, making her stand out to curious passersby. As the last bit of sun disappeared behind the buildings Lucy took out three keys. Three new forms were soon standing nearby, with a fourth one stepping up beside her to look upon what remained of Fairy Tail.

There was a moment of silence as both remembered all the guild had once done for them.

"Guess I should get going then." Lucy stepped forward.

Aquarius's star dress snapped into place around her when she called for it, like second nature these days. She reached out with magic to gather water from suddenly parched air and stagnant puddles formed in untouched wreckage. Another twist of will and the water began to fill with familiar sparks of gold and silver and newer, rarer white.

She floated the water around herself, filling it with yet more light and putting on a show for the audience gathering in the deepening twilight, Loke, Capricorn, Virgo, and Taurus among them. She swept it out and through the shattered guildhall, jumping down into the crater as she continued the final leg of her rounds.

It was like entering another world.

Darkness pressed like a smothering blanket, the remaining brightness of the sky doing nothing. The sparks of her spell were her only light in this place. Calls of encouragement from her friends and spectators became weirdly muffled, as if coming from far away. She felt suddenly alone. And the smell. She couldn't quite describe the smell, not for all the vocabulary in Levy's book collection.

Shaking slightly the celestial mage began to pick her way around piles of rubble, purifying water both clearing and lighting the way.

Around and around the water flowed, sparks of purification magic snuffing out near instantly from the intensity of the curse. She replaced them just as quickly and forced more power into it. More force of will as she recalled her hope that this was the final gasp of the curse plaguing her home.

Lucy could _feel_ the evil in the air, the soul crushing darkness that almost destroyed her in the wake of her world falling apart. It fought and resisted like the weaker areas never did, even when she was tired. The curse in the guildhall bordered on being a living thing, rubbing filthy sandpaper tongues against her mind and crooning it's gentle song of despair. _What are you, what can you do? Try to escape, you can't, can you? Don't stop moving now, not even to rest. And you'll see that it's actually for the best. Focus on me, don't look away. Stay right here, under my sway. Fight like a fairy, until nothing is left. Of you, or them, or_ \- or… drat, she'd written herself into a corner.

The best way to combat a curse outside of destroying it was through redirection. Lucy didn't usually go in for poetry ( _bad poetry_ , chimed a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Lyra), but it took up less mental energy than sorting potential plot points for her novel. Words had always been allies to Lucy. A way to process and quantify her feelings and experiences. To put into words the poison dripping into her heart was to bind it and name it and keep it from seeping into the cracks of her mind to fester unnoticed. _I'm watching you too, you stupid curse._ Now, if only she could find a rhyme for left that fit… Theft? Cleft?

Lucy was distracted from her musings as her audience broke into sudden applause. She had moved back into full view after several moments lost behind rubble. No one clapped louder than Taurus, who was seeing her at work for the first time.

"GO MOOOOOCY! You can DOOOOO it!"

Lucy wondered if all of her spirit friends would end up wanting to spectate. She would welcome it. It might've been embarrassing as hell to have Taurus creating such a scene, but the cheering strengthened her resolve, reminding her she wasn't alone.

She listened to the cheers and encouragement of the townspeople as she summoned yet more water and continued soaking the area. Up and down and all around she went repeatedly. This was where the curse was worst. This was the epicenter. This had been Tartaros's true target, and with this final push Lucy considered their defeat complete despite the reality of the ruin she stood in.

She remembered all the good times she had in this building ( _and never again_ ), all the growth she experienced ( _ha! What growth is that, weakling!)_ , all the happiness she felt (… _.not anymore)_ , all the lessons learned from friends and spirits and fairy queens and word wizards, ice mages, old masters, talking cats with wings, dragons…( _demons_ ).

 _ **No.**_

The dark on the inside went silent, even as it continued to press and grate.

Lucy reached out, and found more water. Filled the water with light (when had it gone out?). Swept it out and around and into every nook and cranny liquid could seep into, carrying her love and determination with it to root out the magical filth that she had left to fester in this place for too long.

One more step. One more casting. One more push. One more. And one more. _I'm not alone. I've never been alone._

 _I'm going to defeat you. For Fairy Tail!_

The pressure lifted. The sound of shouted encouragement got louder. The smell was now identifiable as rotting wood mixed with stagnant water. For just an instant there was light, and a young blonde girl smiled at her before fading away like she had never been.

Lucy breathed deep, suddenly tired.

She was done.

Her audience was still cheering, spirits (aka Taurus) loudest of all. A note of worry had begun to slip into their voices and it occurred to Lucy that she hadn't moved in several minutes. Since glimpsing- no. Best not think about it now. Now it was time to celebrate, to express the euphoria beginning to bubble up through her tiredness.

She reached out and gathered, once again, any drop of water that might have escaped during her…battle? Every last bit of spare magic was then infused into the massive ball floating in front of her, lighting it up into a starry globe. With a touch she sent it skyward, and stood drinking in the confused noises of the crowd as they wondered what she was doing. Their awe at the beauty of her magic and appreciation of the show she had provided. And, eventually, their screams and laughter as the ball burst and sent glittering rain down on the scene.

Feeling very cheerful about her accomplishments, Lucy continued listening and did a little victory dance in the dark. She almost fell over and found herself in Loke's arms. He'd come down to meet her, the others having gone home with her finale. She was too high on success to care if he'd seen her act like a dork and trip on her own feet. She was done! She said as much to her lion.

"Congratulations Princess." He smiled at her indulgently. "Let's get you back."

* * *

Magnolia felt so much better. Life and energy had returned. More mages were moving back every day as friends and neighbors sent word of the vast improvement. Flowers bloomed across the town.

Lucy couldn't enjoy any of it.

Even after the night at the guildhall the curse hadn't fully gone away. It was, admittedly, **almost** gone. She doubted anyone besides herself, hypersensitive to curse energy at this point, would even notice. It was an untraceable whiff of badness, not tied to any particular place or person she could find and dump purification sparkles on. There was hope that now the worst was taken care of, any little bit that lingered would be worn away by the hustle and bustle of people living their lives, but it still gnawed at her like an itch she couldn't reach. Could anything originating from Tartaros be trusted to act as it was supposed to?

None of her friends had anything useful to add, floating suggestions ranging from "wait it out" to "go on a series of dates to likely locations". So, after smacking Loke, she went to find Boss.

"I don't know what to do Boss. I've circled this town three more times since I finished at the guildhall and I can't find a source. It's like a little bit sank into the foundations, too deep for me to reach." She'd sought this man's input during the creation of her priority maps and heeded his warnings about specific people who needed attention. Aside from her spirits, Boss was the only one who had been able to help her in her efforts, and she looked to him now in her disappointment that it wasn't over after all.

He seemed to chew on that for a moment before crossing his arms and taking what she thought of as the 'older man about to impart wisdom on the young'uns' pose. "You might be onto something with it getting to the foundations. There are plenty of ways it could'a made it's way down." He caught sight of her crestfallen look. "Ah, don't worry about it. You can use the same ways to get down there and finish the job. See, remember the mage kid from my story? Well, he went on to be a great mage and kind of a fixture 'round here. Pretty sure you know who."

Nodding in agreement, she thought it was hard not to recognize Gildarts in any story about a man who absently walked through walls. And then she suddenly understood the abrupt change in subject.

"Oh! That- that thing the buildings do, where they all move! Is that what-?"

"I expect so. Way that curse shit got everywhere else, be stupid to think it wouldn't find it's way into that too. I'm sure the rest of the town'll cooperate with opening it up just to check, but you might wanna give me and your prettyboy friend a few days to warn people. Gildarts is…he's a good guy, but for most around here we're just as happy not seeing him in person."

"Ahhh..." Lucy didn't quite know how to respond to that, but she did remember the sense of general panic from the first time she ever met the Crash Wizard so she couldn't really argue. "Well, okay. I think we're expecting rain in three days? Let's aim to have everyone prepared by then if that's enough time."

And Boss smiled, remembering dancing light and water.

* * *

Magnolia was preparing to use the Gildarts Emergency System for something besides mitigating Gildarts's presence, and the Mayor of Magnolia wasn't happy about it.

He'd largely been ok with Fairy Tail and their chaos all these years. They cleaned up after themselves (mostly), brought pride to his beautiful town with their status as a top guild, had some of the loveliest ladies in the region, and Makarov was a good sort. Further, they were An Institution that had shaped Magnolia for generations.

He could respect that.

He was rather less able to respect one little girl armed with glitter who thought she was important enough to ask his already suffering town to cease all activity and initiate the system meant for Gildarts visits. But in the end it wasn't his decision to make and he was ultimately forced to stand by and listen to his secretary gush something about curses and the girl's glitter getting rid of them. Hmmm…

* * *

Word spread. Not everyone knew or understood what Lucy had been doing recently (see: the Mayor), Magnolia was a large and populous town, even after hemorrhaging residents for the better part of a month. But enough do get it to spread excitement at the thought of another light show. That last display at the ex-guildhall had been something else, everyone agreed.

Just like last time, Loke, Capricorn, and Virgo came to watch. This time, so did Scorpio.

"It's not everyday we get to see you shine like this Princess. Even if it seems like a finishing touch to you, the completion of a job like this, seeing you be recognized the way you deserve, is something we don't want to miss. And most of us haven't gotten the chance to watch you do this" Scorpio looked a bit reproachfully at the others as he said it and Lucy couldn't help a pleased blush at the scorpion's words.

"Besides, Aquarius really wants a report. Says you better be using her power with some competence and wants me to make sure of it. Don't worry, I'll give you a good review." With that Scorpio wandered off to get in line at one of the food carts currently doing brisk business with the gathering crowd.

The other three spirits approached, looking mildly sheepish. "Princess. It was I who informed Aquarius of how critical her star dress has been. For my indiscretion you may-" Before Virgo could ruin the moment with her sass Capricorn broke in with some last minute advice.

"This will not be easy even with the curse energy so light. You have much ground to cover and limited time to cover it."

That had worried Lucy too. Thankfully she had an answer.

"Should I summon Gemini?"

"That might be for the best."

More than a month ago, when she had first started out, she hadn't been able to handle the strain of Gemini on top of everything else. The purification spell was draining after consecutive hours of use, the curse zone left her less powerful than she should have been (though it was hard to quantify by how much), she needed Capricorn out for help, and Virgo had become a fixture once Lucy decided to get her life outside of work back together (Loke didn't count, he summoned himself more often than not). By the time she had the strength and skill to have Gemini helping she was making enough headway to decide she was better off saving that extra bit of magic for herself.

Here and now, with so much ground to cover and Scorpio's reminder that all her spirits wanted to see her work, would be the perfect time to bring them out.

"Open the Gate of the Twins: Gemini!"

"Lucy!" "Lucy!"

"Hey! I'm so sorry I haven't summoned you recently. Will you help me finish this purification?"

Their response was to take her form.

"All right, let's GO!" they shouted in tandem.

The sky missed it's cue and stubbornly waited another 15 minutes to drop rain.

* * *

When the rain began to fall, the Aquarian Lucy's took it as their staring signal. They gathered water in one hand as the other filled with lights. Gold and silver and white swirled in suspended liquid, large and bright and edging into rainbow. Lucy had come to this thing well rested and filled with determination.

And they were off, tearing along the cleared path through the heart of Magnolia, sending purifying water in every direction.

Gemini showed Lucy a new trick with water. Soon they were both speeding along on waves of their own making, trailing purification magic behind them. They raced. They played. They competed to see who could make the biggest wave or send it farthest (Gemini won that one). They formed balls of water and threw them back and forth, adding more magic until they were more sparkle than water. They competed to see how far they could fling them. They soaked the cheering crowds and laughed.

Even when taking the time to scrub down minute details and mechanisms, Lucy thinks she had more fun in the three hours it took to sweep through town to her satisfaction than she's had since the Grand Magic Games.

And then it was over and she was panting with physical exertion and magic exhaustion. She was **done**. For **real** this time.

A beaming Gemini gave her a last hug as themselves before poofing back to the Celestial Realm. Capricorn clapped a hand on her shoulder with a "Well done," before following. Scorpio gave her a rather harder clap on the back and a last reassurance that Aquarius would only hear good things about Lucy's use of her power before returning home.

Loke and Virgo remained, determined to return her to her current abode and get her into something dry before she passed out. A serious concern it turned out, as the adrenaline began to wear off and her knees buckled.

As Lucy rode on Loke's back to the edge of town they all heard the rumble of the buildings moving back into position.

"Princess, that was magnificent." Virgo said it in her usual blank voice but the small smile on her face conveyed the truth of the sentiment.

"It felt magnificent. What a way to end things. Mmmm. Maybe it won't be so bad to stay here a little longer, just until I know what I'm going to do now. After this I'll finally have time to think about the future and make a plan, and-" Lucy looks at Virgo shyly "I would like to work on a star dress with you soon, if you're willing to lend me your power."

"I would love to Princess. And if I fail you will punish me properly"

"Err…"

Loke interrupted with "We're here! Let me help you out of these wet clothes and then we can cuddle on the couch until you're warm, unless you think a nice warm shower is bett-" Lucy was too tired to smack Loke so Virgo intervened and saved her from embarrassment.

"Take your shower Princess. And then I'll have some old clothes of Natsu-san's ready for pajamas, and I will tuck you safely into Natsu-san's hammock." Or not. Lucy's face burned as she stumbled toward the shower.


End file.
